Commentary

The Insurrection Act, like the National Emergencies Act, gives the president a dangerous amount of discretion, including allowing for the deployment of federal troops to suppress domestic uprisings and enforce the law. It is incumbent on Congress to reform these laws before President Trump, or another president, exploits them further.

The Brennan Center for Justice, in conjunction with Charles Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act against the Department of Justice for the release of non-sensitive court docket information for publicly filed terrorism-related prosecutions.

The Email Privacy Act would help bring laws on electronic communications into line with existing law enforcement practices, court precedent, and individual expectations of privacy. The Act was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 as passed by the House on May 24, 2018. The bill will go into conference shortly to be reconciled with the Senate-passed version of the NDAA. On July 13, 2018, the Brennan Center joined with 52 other civil liberties groups and technology firms to urge Congress to include the Email Privacy Act in the final NDAA.